Hedge trimmer



. J. ALTLAN D HEDGE TRIMMER Ap i 7, 1931.

Original Filed May 9', 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A ttorn ey -April 7, 1931.J. A LTLAND 1,799,721

HEDGE TRIMMER Original Filed May 9. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N Inventor Jhwww4 @@Mwh A ttorney Patented Apr. 7, 1931 y UNITEDYSTATES PATENT OFFICEJOHN ALTLAND, OF DOVER, PENNSYLVANIA HEDGE TRIMMER Application filed May9, 1929, Serial No. 361,719. Renewed December 17, 1930.

This invention relates to what is known in The rearwardly and upwardlyinclined porthe art as hedge trimmers, and has as its prition 8 of thebar terminates in a suitable maryobject the provision of an improvedhandle 9, while the forwardly and downhedge trimmer wherein the hedgemay be wardly inclined portion 7 terminates in an trimmed along the topandr sides thereof durupwardly and forwardly curved extremity 55 ing theone operation. 10. A stub axle 11 terminates in one end in Another veryimportant object of the ina right angularly disposed split` clamp 12vention is to provide a trimmer of this nator securing the said axleadjustably on the ture, comprising a pair of cutting members, portion 7ot' the rod 5. The split clamp 12 10 one of which is adapted to extendalong the comprises the ears 13 provided with bolt G0 top of the hedge,along the side of the hedge, openings to receive a bolt 1li for holdingthe together with means for adjusting the cutaxle in adjusted positionupon the rod 5. ting members relative to one another to com- Journaledon the stub axle 11 is a suitable pensate for the decrease for theheight otl the wheel 15, which is rotatably held thereon by 15 hedgeduring the cutting operation thereof. means of a Cotter pin 16 passingthrough an 65 Another very important object oi' this inopening 17 formedin the extremity of the Vention is to provide a hedge trimmer whichaxle. AAn L-bar denoted generally by the is very simple in construction,strong, durareference character 17 is adapted intermeble, practicable,capable of adjustment wherediate its ends to provide a leg 18, the free20 by it may be used for hedges of varying sizes, end of which leg isixed to the bar 5 ad- 70 practicable and thoroughly reliable andeijacent the curved portion 6 and at the junccient in use. j tion of thecurve and the forwardly extend* Other objects and advantages of theinvening portion 7 as at 19. The leg 20 of the bar tion will becomeapparent during a study of 17 has its free -end fixed to the upstandingand the following description taken in connection rearwardly inclinedportion 8 of the bar .5

with the accompanying drawings, wherein: adjacent the handle 9 as at 21.Acutter sup- Figure -1 is a top plan View of a hedge trimporting bardesignated generally by the retmer constructed in accordance with thisinerence character 22 adjacent one end is suitvention. ably, tix-ed tothe extremity 10 of the bar 5 Figure2is aside elevation thereof. Y bywelding or in any other suitable man- 30 Figure 3 is a detail sectionalview taken on ner, and the opposite end of this cutter supthe line 3-3of Figure 1. porting bar 22 is pivotally connected to a Figure 4 is adetail sectional View talren on second cutter supporting bar as at 23.The

line 4-4 of Figure 2. j second cutter supporting bar designated Figure 5is a detail sectional View taken on generally as at 24; is bent adjacentone end 95 line 5-5 of Figure 1. to provide the downwardly depending legFigure 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional 25,V the end of which leg 25is movable on an View taken on line 6-6 ot Figure 2. arcuate shaped bar26, one end of which arc- Figure 7 is a detail View showing the aduateshaped bar 26 1s fixed to the main supjusting means for one of thecutters. porting bar 5 at the juncture of the curved n With referencemore in detail to the drawportion 6 of the bar 5 and the rearwardly ingsit will be seen that my improved hedge and upwardly inclined portion 8as at 27. trimmer comprises' a main wheel supported The opposite end ofthe arcuate member 26 member designated generally by the referis ixed tothe cutter supporting bar 22 interence character 5. This main supportingmediate the ends of the bar 22 as at 27. Thus "5 member 5 is in thenature of a bar of elonit will be seen that the cutter bar 22 issupgated construction and bent intermediate its ported on the mainsupporting member 5in ends to provide the bent portion 6, the forsuch amanner as to extend upwardly and wardly extending portion 7, and therearrearwardly of the member 5, and this sup- 59 wardly and upwardlyinclined portion 8. porting bar 22 vis adapted to support the 100receiving a suitable thumb nut 31 for holding the leg 1n an adjustedposition, on theI arcuate shaped member 26, the leg 25 of course beingmoved lengthwise of the arcuate member 2G so as to adjust the angle ofthe second cutter bar 24. The cutter supporting bar 24 is ot coursehorizontally disposed and extends at substantially a right angle to thecutter supporting bar 22 as clearly illustrated in Figure 1. Asuitablehandle 32 is tix-ed to the tree extremity of 'the cutter Supporting bar24 as at 33 so that while one person is holding` the handle 9 for movingthe trimmer along the hedge, a second person or helper holding thehandle 32 will aid in maintaining the trimmervin proper position Jfortrimming the hedge along the top ot the hedge. On each ot the cuttersupporting bars 22 and 24 are a pair ot cutting members each designatedgenerally by the reference characters 34 and 35, respectively. Thecutting member 34 comprises the blades 3G. which blades are in the formof conventional mower blades, and each of the said blades are riveted totheir respective supporting niembers as at 37. The cutter member o5v isof course the movable cutter member and is adapted to reciprocaterelative to the stationary cutter member 34 and this cutter member 35comprises the blades 3S ot conventional construction, and each ot whichis riveted as at 39 to an elongatedsickle bar 40 as clearly illustratedin Figure 3. Suitable guide members 41 are supported oneach'oic thecutter supporting members and in spaced relation to one another, andeach ot the said guiilles 41 comprises a central plate 4l having adownwardly dependa Y posed in overlapping relation to the upstan dingportion 43 oi cach ot' the cutter supporting members 22 and 24. Theguides have the plates 41 provided on its opposite edge with adownwardly and outwardly dispose-'fl portion 44, thus providing suitableguide means for the movable cutters 85. The cutting elements carriedbythe supporting member 24 will now be` designated generally by thereference character L andl of course it will be understood thatthecutters L will be disposed in a horizontal plane to project laterallytromlthe supporting member, 24, andthe movable cutter member of thecutter L terminates at one end in an offset shank -like member 46, whichmember 46 terminates in a ball 47. A connecting member 4S comprises apair of spaced parallel arms 49, the extremities ot which arms 49 frflange 42 disare curved outwardlv as at 50 and cooperate to provide asocket tor receiving the ball 47 as shown in Figure 5.

The connecting member 48 merges at its opposite end into a shank 51 tobe lixed as at 52 to an eccentric 53 projecting from one face of a disc54, the opposite tace ot which disc 54 is provided with a beveled gear55 for a purpose to be hereinafter more tully set forth. rIhe cuttingelements 34 and 35 mounted on the cutter supporting` member 22 aredesignated generally by the reference character S, and it will be notedthat these cutting elements extend upwardly from the supporting member22 since they are to be adapted tor cutting the side of the hedge duringthe operation ot the trimmer. The movable cutting member 35 ot thecutter S has fixed to its base bar, intermediate the ends of the bar abracket 56 as at 57.

The bracket 56 pivotally receives the one end 58 oi' an operating link59, the opposite end ot said link 59 being fixed to the eccentric 53 asat 60. Fixed to the supporting member 22 adjacent the bracket 5G is thecurved extremity ot a supporting bar (31 pivotally mounted to the saidmember 22 as at (32. This bar 62 extends rearwardly and outwardly of themember 22 to be adjustably supported on the member 17 at the juncture otthe leg of the member by means of an adjustable link 63 extendinglaterally from the bar G1 and having a slotted portion adapted to beVlixed to the member 17 by any suitable adjusting means such as themeans ($4, illustrated. The tree end ot' the bar 61 `has rotatablymounted thereon a beveled gear 65 adapted to mesh with the gear as shownte advantage in Figure (5. rlhe gear is provided with a suitableactuating handle (36 fixed thereto as at 67. Thus it will be seen byactuating the gear 35 through the medium ot the handle (ib the said gearin mesh with the gear 55 will cause rotation ot the disc to cause. asimultaneous reciprocation ot the movable cutter members 35 whereby itwill be seen that the top and side ot the hedge will be sin'iultaneouslytrimmed.

1When using a hedge trimmer ot this typo, it has been found that whenthe hedge is ol such height that the portion 7 of the rod 5 needs mustbe practically parallel to the ground it is obvious that the supportingmember 24 would extend along the top ot' the hedge at an angle. to thehedge which lot course would seriously hamper the cutting of the topportion ot the hedge. To overcomr this difliculty then l' haveprovidedthe adjusting means comprising the adjusting legs 25 movable onthe arcuate member 26 so that, it will be seen in order to bring theadjusting member 24 on a horizontal plane with the top ot' the head theadjusting leg 25 may be moved rearwardly, or as in this case, to thelett hand end ot the arcuate member 26 thus permitting a downwardmovement of the supporting member 24 whereby the same will be brought ona horizontal plane with the top of the hedge and thus permit the truecutting of the top part of the hedge. When using the trimmer with ahedge of considerable height, the wheels l5 may be adjusted on the bar 5so as to be disposed at the upwardly and forwardly bent portion l()whereby the portion 7 may extend at substantially a right angle to thesurface of the ground, whereupon it will be seen that the adjustingmember 24 would be disposed at almost a right angle to the top of thehedge which of course would prevent suitable operation of the cuttingmember L for trimming the top of the hedge. To overcome this then itwill be readily seen that by moving the leg 25 to the right of the arc26 the adjusting member 24 will be brought upwardly so as to extend in ahori- Zontal plane to the top of the hedge and thus permit propercutting action of the cutting member L so as to provide a neat trim forthe top of the hedge.

From the foregoing then it will be seen that l have provided a novelhedge trimmer which can be readily adapted to any hedge of no matterwhat the height of the hedge may be, and will trim the hedge in areliable and efficient manner both along the top and side of the hedge.

Even though I have herein shown and described certain detail structuralelements oi' the invention it is to be understood that the same iscapable of changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention andthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Let-- ters Patent is l. In a device of the characterdescribed, a bar bent intermediate its ends to provide a rearwardlyextending portion terminating in a handle, and a forwardly extendingportion, a wheel-adjustably mounted on said forwardly extending portion,a supporting member having one end fixed to the forward end of the barand incliniiig rearwardly and upwardly from the bar, an arcuate shapedmember having one end fixed to the bar and its opposite end fixed to thefree end of the supporting member, al second supporting member bentintermediate its ends to provide a right angularly disposed legoperatively enraging the arcuate member, means for pivotally connectingthe supporting members, cutting elements carried by each of the saidsupporting member, and means for siniultaneously operating the cuttingelements.

2. In a device of the character described, a bar bent intermediate itsends to provide a rearwardly and upwardly extending portion terminatingin a handle, and a forwardly and downwardly inclined portion terminatingin an upwardly and forwardly extending extremity, a cutter supportingmember, one end of said cutter supporting member being fixed to theextremity of said bar, and said cutter supporting member adapted toextend upwardly and rearwardly of the bar, an arcuate shaped memberhaving one end fixed to the bar adjacent the upwardly extending portion,and the other end of said arcuate member being fixed to the cuttersupporting member adjacent the rear end of said cutter supportingmember, a second cutter supporting member, said second cutter supportingmember being bent adjacent one end to provide a downwardly extending legadapted to be movably supported on said arcuate member, means forpivotally connecting the said supporting members, cutting elementscarried by each of said cutter supporting members, means forsimultaneously operating the cutter elements.

3. In a device of the class described, a bar bent intermediate its endsto provide a rearwardly and upwardly extending portion terminating in ahandle, and a forwardly extending portion having a wheel adjustablymounted thereon, a cutter supporting member, said cutter supportingmember adjacent one end being fixed to the forward end of said bar, andadapted to incline rearwardly from the bar, an arcuate shaped memberhaving one end fixed to the bar and its opposite end fixed to thesupporting member adjacent the free end of said supportinor member, asec- -ond cutter supporting memier extending at right angles to saidfirst cutter supporting member and pivotally associated therewith, saidsecond supporting member having a right angularly disposed legoperatively engaging the arcuate member, a rotatable disc, cuttingelements on each of said cutter supporting members, means operativelyconnecting the disc with each of said cutting elements, and manuallycontrolled means for rotating the disc.

4:. In a trimming device of the character described, a main wheelsupported member, a cutter supporting member extending upwardly andrearwardly of said main wheel supported member, said cutter supportingmember having one vend thereof fixed to the first mentioned member, anarcuate shaped A vsaid arcuate member, means for pivotally connectingsaid cutter supporting members.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN ALTL AND.

